F is for Flashpoint
by Avirra
Summary: It should have been a simple callout to deal with a simple fire at a storage facility, but with a volatile chemical stored irresponsibly?  Nothing is simple.
1. Chapter 1

**F is for Flashpoint**

_Flashpoint: 1) The temperature at which a flammable liquid gives off vapors that will combust - 2) Flare of violence or anger due to a time or event_

The call for the Station wasn't one that raised any red flags. Storage unit fire with a report of smoke inhalation concerning the watchman at the facility. There were several structures on the property, but only one of them was involved. While Roy checked over the watchman who was complaining about breathing too much smoke, Chet and Marco took a line over to start taking out the fire. Captain Stanley and Johnny donned turnout gear as well and took another line to wet down the nearest buildings to prevent the fire from jumping in case the wind picked up.

The watchman was breathing deeply from the oxygen mask while Roy took his blood pressure reading. After a moment, he moved the mask to the side to speak, but Roy moved as well to try and put the mask back in place.

"Sir, you really need to keep that in place to do you any good."

"I'm just worried, son - that fire. You think they can get the refrigeration unit running again as soon as the flames are gone?"

Roy had a half-smile at the older man calling him son. He was glad Johnny wasn't close enough to have heard that.

"If that unit is what caught fire, I doubt they'll even try to restart it, sir. Something had to have been wrong with it for it to have caught fire in the first place."

"I don't think it would be a good idea to leave it off. I mean, that building's all metal and it's not really insulated, so if that unit stays off much longer and the heat rises, it's going to be bad."

Roy cast a glance back to the building. It didn't look like anything that would be approved for food storage, but that didn't mean someone might not use it for that regardless.

"Perishables inside?"

"No, son. Some kind of chemical stuff they use at a little manufacturing company nearby. Ethy ox something."

Roy felt himself go pale. _Please, please let me be wrong._

"Ethylene oxide?"

The man's face lit up - the expression Roy least wanted to see.

"That's it - hey!"

Roy was already on his feet and running, yelling back at the man. At this small of a fire, HTs weren't in use. The chemical that the man named was highly flammable and if the fire outside raised the temperature inside to over 800 degrees or a spark got inside? The metal building was likely already an oven.

"Get behind my squad, sir! Mike! Stay behind the engine!"

Roy was heading toward Captain Stanley, yelling. He caught Johnny's attention first and Johnny tapped Cap's shoulder to get his attention. The expression on Roy's face was enough to get him to shut the line down.

"Cap! We need to pull back! That building has -"

Roy didn't get any further before the small metal building exploded in a fireball, sending shards of metal in all directions. Chet and Marco were flung back and knocked off their feet by the concussive force of the blast. Johnny and Cap were far enough away that they were jarred, but managed to keep standing though they reflexively ducked as the bits of metal hit and bounced off their turnout gear.

Mike shut down the water since no-one was actively manning a hose at the moment and ran out to help his crewmates. Where Roy had only been doing paramedic duty, he was the only one that had been in the open not wearing a turnout coat. Mike yelled for Johnny.

"Roy took a hard hit or two – go check your partner. I'll help Cap with Chet and Marco."

Having no way of knowing if another explosion might be imminent, the first priority was to get everyone back behind the engine to let it take the brunt of any other blast. Cap took hold of Chet while Mike got Marco. They were both groggy and very likely suffering from concussion, but at first glance, it looked like their turnout gear had protected them from the worst of the shrapnel.

Johnny quickly saw why Mike had redirected him to Roy. At least two pieces of metal had pierced him like knives. He'd have to stabilize them as best as he could and let them be removed at Rampart. Grabbing Roy under the shoulders, he drug his partner as quickly and carefully as he could behind the engine's protective bulk. Cap was already calling dispatch.

"This is Station 51 - there has been an explosion of an unknown type at our location. Half my crew is down, leaving myself, my engineer and a paramedic who had his hands full with injured - I need two ambulances and another engine dispatched immediately."

As Johnny went around the squad to grab his equipment, the original man being treated looked up at him, wide eyed.

"Boy, no wonder your other guy ran off. That stuff really packs a wallop."

The way the man said that annoyed Johnny and he gave the man a dirty look.

"My partner didn't run away from the fire. He ran toward it to try and warn the rest of us. If you're able to move without dizziness, come back around to the other side so we can keep an eye on how you're doing while I take care of the others."

"You mean he got hurt? Maybe I shouldn't have told him about that stuff."

The man seemed genuinely upset that Roy had been injured, so Johnny felt a little guilty for snapping at him until he was distracted by what the man said.

"You know what stuff was in there? And you told Roy?"

"Well, to be honest, I'm not good at all those scientific chemical names. I always just remember it as ethy ox, but your partner knew it. Went pale and everything. Wish I could remember that full name he said now."

Johnny frowned to himself as he reclosed the door on the squad.

"Ethy ox. . . ethy?"

He was still puzzling that one as he came back around and called over to Cap.

"Hey, Cap - guy we found when we came on the scene says there was some chemical stored in that building, but he only can only remember -"

Then a faint, sweet odor reached Johnny's nose. One that reminded him of the hospital.

"Oh no. Ethylene oxide?"

The voice called out from the other side of the squad.

"Yeah! That's the one."

"Is that the only building with that in it?"

"I'm not positive. That company rents five of our sheds and three of them are refrigerated."

Hearing that, Captain Stanley was immediately calling dispatch back.

"Dispatch, this is Station 51 again. We have just been informed that a highly flammable chemical is being stocked at this facility in inadequate storage buildings. We may have the potential for other explosions."

"10-4, 51. Incoming responders will be told to proceed with caution."

* * *

><p><em>An FYI note : Ethylene oxide is used in a variety of ways in industry. In hospitals, it is used as a disinfecting agent and is often used to sterilize equipment that is heat-sensitive and thus cannot be steamed. The gas is poisonous, clear and deceptively pleasant smelling. It is also very dangerous. Heating it can cause it to expand rapidly and explode. It can burn in a very low-oxygen atmosphere. One reported incident where only the residual fumes of Ethylene oxide were in a piece of equipment and were sparked off resulted in one death and seven hospitalizations.<em>


	2. Chapter 2

**Part II**

Roy began coming back around with several sensations vying for his attention - all of which only increased his disorientation. There was something important but a buzzing in his head was making concentration even more difficult. Then the pain started to pierce through the fog and he realized that the buzzing wasn't in his head, it was all around him.

A semi-familiar voice that Roy couldn't quite place spoke up not too far away.

"That's not good. That's not good at all."

The more familiar voice of Cap came next.

"How 'not good' are we talking?"

"I'm not sure how much not good, but that alarm means the temperature in those buildings is up over fifty degrees."

The semi-familiar voice spoke again in just over a mutter as Roy heard movement and attempted to sit up.

"Hell with this, You boys are on your own."

Roy couldn't make it up to a fully seated position, but he had himself partially up and braced with his elbows as he caught sight of the watchman heading off as quickly as he could. There wasn't anything he could do about that and he wasn't sure if Cap and the others knew about the danger. His voice was rough when he spoke, but Roy managed to be loud enough to be heard.

"If either of those other buildings has the ethylene oxide inside, that's real bad, Captain. I don't remember the exact temperature, but somewhere over the fifty degree mark, that stuff goes from a liquid to a gas."

Johnny was back over by his partner's side in an instant.

"Roy, you need to lay back down, pally. You're going to agg-"

The hard grip Roy took on his arm stopped Johnny from talking. The intense look in the blue eyes made him shift to supporting his partner. Roy's voice may have been rough, but it was firm with urgency.

"Remember that hazardous material course I took last time I was on limited duty? This stuff was one that we covered. It's heavier than air - it can travel along the ground a pretty long distance looking for an ignition point. And it's toxic. We need to make sure everyone is up off the ground. Stuff's not visible and by the time the scent warns the people who are standing, the folks on the ground could be in distress."

"You're right - stuff's too dangerous to take chances. I didn't take the course yet, but I sure remember you talking about some of it after. Cap? Let's get Chet and Marco up in the cab, then let's get Roy up in the back of the squad."

"Is it going to be safe to move them around like that, John?"

"Safer than letting them stay where they are, Cap. Hey - what happened to the guy that works here?"

"He said we were on our own, Junior - he can't be having too many problems breathing at the rate he was leaving."

"Cap! The watchman's left the area. Fast."

"Great - just great. John - you stay with Roy while Mike and I get Marco and Chet moved. Easy, Chet. Just let me do most of the work here, pal."

From where he was mostly on the ground still, Roy could see underneath the engine and saw the danger, but his voice choked on him. He grabbed Johnny's arm and squeezed in time for Johnny to shift his eyes to follow the direction Roy was looking in. He could see that flames had started to flicker among the remains of the first storage house. Then his own breath caught as he saw what looked like the ground catching ablaze as the tongue of flame headed straight for one of the other buildings.

"Everybody take cover!"

Johnny did his best to get himself between Roy and the building - he couldn't just cover him without driving the metal that was already in his partner in deeper. For a moment, there was silence and Johnny wondered for a second if he had over-reacted. The explosion that shook the area like an earthquake answered that for him almost immediately.

Mike had been closing the cab door after helping Marco inside at the same time as Johnny had yelled and had missed the warning. He was on the side facing the structures, though fortunately he was still facing the engine when the blast went off. Mike felt himself being thrown hard into the side of the cab before he lost consciousness.

On the other side, Cap had just finished getting Chet inside when Johnny's warning came. To him, it seemed that Gage's words had barely registered before the entire engine rocked hard. Captain Stanley had a feeling of helplessness as he lost his foothold on the engine stair and felt himself start to fall backwards. That is, until a jerk on his turnout coat pulled him back toward the cab. Chet looked near ready to pass out from the effort, but he had reacted instinctively and reached out to grab hold of Stanley's turnout and pull. In Chet's current condition, the wonder was that he hadn't been drug out of the cab himself instead. And while Hank did end up in an awkward position, he preferred that to the thought that his alternative might have been hitting the concrete below with the back of his head leading the way. Helmet or not, he couldn't imagine that would have been pleasant.

Cap started to move, but found Chet still had a death grip on his turnout coat.

"Hey, you can let go now, Kelly. Thanks, pal, but I need to go check on Mike."

Mike's name was the trigger that made Chet's grip loosen enough for Cap to pull free. Hank was relieved - he certainly didn't want to have to be rough with Kelly, but there was the chance that another explosion could happen any minute - he had to get to Mike and time wasn't on his side. He could see Johnny moving beside Roy, but he didn't look like he was moving very steadily. Hank would need to check on them as well, but Mike was on the wrong side of the engine. He was Hank's first priority.


	3. Chapter 3

**Part III**

The sight of Mike crumpled against the side of the engine worried Hank, but there wasn't time to evaluate his man. Hoping he wasn't making any injuries worse in the process, he hefted Mike up and got him around to the other side just before another explosion sent a fireball into the sky. For a moment, he was afraid he might lose his balance, but a combination of determination, adrenaline and luck kept him upright.

Mentally he cursed the watchman that had fled the scene - he was the only one that might know where the records were kept so that they could get a hold of whoever was renting those buildings. Somebody had decided to make their own rules and it was his men that were paying the price.

He searched around before spotting Roy and Johnny next to the squad. Roy was leaning heavily against the side and Hank didn't like the look of his color one bit. Johnny was in the process of picking himself back off the ground. They couldn't wait much longer for help.

Lifting Mike to lay him in the back section of the squad, Hank gave a quick word to his paramedics before reaching into the squad and grabbing the radio.

"Dispatch, this is Station 51. We have had two more explosions here and I am currently the only man fully mobile. We need help in here and we need it now."

"Acknowledged, 51. Other units have been instructed to stay back until the threat can be identified."

"Dispatch, I have men who are in need of hospitalization. One is unconscious and one is losing blood. We have a third building that also possibly contains unstable substances and it is not far from our location."

Hank left unvoiced his concern that if that building went, he might lose one or more of his men. He felt like they were sitting on a time bomb with an unknown number of seconds to go before detonation.

"Station 51 - are any civilians left at your location?"

"Negative, dispatch. He has fled the scene."

"Station 51, are you able to pull back from the location?"

Hank looked to the engine. He could drive her out, but he wasn't going to leave his men at the squad.

"John! Do you think you can drive the squad?"

Hank winced - the disoriented look he was getting from Johnny made that a 'no'. Then Roy spoke up.

"How far, Captain?"

"We need to pull back to where the other engine, squad and ambulance are waiting."

"Get Johnny in the passenger seat - I can get us that far."

"Are you sure?"

"What choice do we have?"

Hank had to acknowledge that staying where they were was more dangerous than moving, so he helped Johnny into the passenger seat then helped Roy around to the driver's seat. He winced at the bloody metal still in his senior paramedic's left thigh and upper arm.

"It's not far, Roy. Just half a mile and then we'll let the other guys do the work. Take it real slow so Mike's not jostled out of the back."

His answer was a weak smile from Roy.

"I won't be trying to break any speed records. Unless there's one for the slowest half-mile."

"Good man. I'll be right behind you."

Hank took a moment to give another glance to make sure Mike was still firmly onboard before heading for the engine, disconnecting the hose connections and climbing into the cab. The lines would just have to be abandoned.

He was still uneasy about Roy driving in his condition, but Roy was the only other man with a semi-clear head at the moment. He brought the engine in line behind the squad and they crept out. They had just cleared the outer fence when the jolt of another explosion hit from behind. Hank winced as he saw Mike's body give a small bounce in the back of the squad, but thankfully he remained in place. Just a few more yards and the squad pulled to the side and parked.

It seemed only seconds later that they were being swarmed by their fellow firefighters. Roy and Johnny were pulled from the squad cab as other hands gently took Mike from the back to where a triage area was set up. Marco and Chet followed in short order, then Captain Stanley found himself being led over as well. He wanted to see how his men were doing, so he didn't object until he was fitted with oxygen.

"I'm fine - worry about my guys."

To Hank's surprise, the voice he heard next was Chief McConakee's.

"Everyone's being looked after, Captain. Just relax and breathe deeply. The doctors are concerned that you guys might have breathed some of that stuff in before you knew it was in the area. Your station has been stood down until all of you and your gear can be examined. Your engine took some shrapnel on the way out."

He felt the Chief's hand on his shoulder.

"You and your whole crew is going to be at the hospital for awhile, Hank. That stuff can cause fluid build-up in the lungs, but I'm told it's a delayed reaction to the exposure. The docs at Rampart want all of you under observation for forty-eight hours so that they can treat it if any of you start showing symptoms."

Hank looked at the rising smoke from where they'd been just short minutes before.

"Somebody probably thought they were saving money by storing their chemicals off-site like this. If we had come in with any idea of what we were dealing with, this could have turned out so differently."

The sound of the sirens of as the first ambulance left with Roy and Mike had Hank lifting his head to watch it briefly.

"I know. Come on, Hank. Let's get you into one of those ambulances. Kelly and Lopez are already loaded in the second one. Third one's just arriving for you and Gage."

Rampart's ER was a hive of activity as one ambulance after another delivered the A-shift crew. Dixie was already looking into having one of the larger rooms made ready. With them looking at a minimum of a forty-eight hour stay, everyone would stay saner if the crew could be kept together. Hank and Johnny were diagnosed with low grade concussions and ended up in the room first, followed in short order by Chet and Marco, whose concussions were more severe. All four of them would have been pacing if they'd been allowed to by the time Mike was brought in. Dixie accompanying him to fill the others in with his permission.

"Two cracked ribs and bruising. Not that it's generally a problem with Mike here, but he needs to refrain from talking for awhile. His throat is also showing signs of irritation from something he inhaled."

Then the voice Dixie had been expecting since she walked into the room. Johnny's.

"Where's Roy?"

"I hope he'll be joining the rest of you a little later. Roy's in surgery recovery right now. We were very lucky that neither of the shards that hit him nicked a major artery, but one of them hit bone and they had to remove it surgically to make sure they got all of it out. But everything is looking fine - they're starting him on antibiotics in his IV to ward off infections. Once he wakes up from the anesthesia, he'll be brought down."

Johnny flat out fretted until Roy actually was brought down and he could get a look at his partner for himself. Roy's color was still pastier than Johnny cared to see, but he knew that the blood that had been lost would take some time to replace.

Before even twenty-four hours were up, Hank, Mike and Roy were showing signs of fluid build up, but steps were taken immediately that Dr. Brackett hoped would help them avoid it turning into pneumonia. He was most concerned about Mike because of his rib damage.

Chief McConakee came in the next day and took a long look at the battered crew. After gaining Dr. Brackett's permission, the Chief brought a small group of five men and women to the hall outside of his men's room with Dixie and Dr. Brackett there.

"So - you decided the best way to avoid getting cited for improper chemical storage would be to store them off-site. In buildings that weren't blast rated, ventilated or in any way designed for that type of storage. Your actions put six men into the hospital - an entire fire station shift. I know you'll be facing fines, but what I want you to face is what this meant in terms other than money."

The group reluctantly looked in. Dr. Brackett went inside almost immediately as Chet was hit with severe nausea and lost what little food he'd been able to swallow earlier.

"Sorry, Kelly, we're going to get you hooked up with something to try and ease that. How are you feeling otherwise?"

"Like a train ran over me, then backed up and ran over me again, doc. The room keeps doing circles."

"Vertigo, eh? We'll see if we can give you something to combat that too. You had lead on your hose line, didn't you?"

Chet nodded, then regretted that as Dr. Brackett grabbed a basin. In the hallway, the obvious pain and misery that the crew was in was difficult to watch. Dixie gave them all a cool look. Those were her friends that had been injured and could have been killed.

"These men aren't out of danger yet. The chemical they were exposed to could cause pneumonia. If they had know that they were dealing with anything that toxic, they wouldn't have gone in without self-contained breathing systems on."

Chief McConakee escorted the group back out.

"You may think the regulations are extreme in some cases, but they're in place to try and prevent situations like this from occurring in the first place. You are all very lucky that no-one was killed or you would be facing much more serious charges than you already are."

In all, it would take three weeks before all of the crew of A-shift were certified as able to return to full-duty, with Roy and Mike being the final two to pass that hurdle. After role call, Captain Stanley called them all to the table.

"Two things - first, welcome back to Mike and Roy. It's good to see all the right faces at the table again. Second, I want to say I'm proud of how everyone pulled together. Things could have been a lot worse than they were if everyone hadn't. Marco taking a hard hit from trying to brace Chet at the initial blast. Mike getting Johnny over to Roy, Chet grabbing hold of my jacket to keep me from landing on my head. Roy driving the squad out despite his injuries. We were on our own and we made it through."

Suddenly the tones went off.

"Well, so much for sentiment, fellows - let's go do our jobs."


End file.
